Michèle Brunner

The Fine Watch Club (FWC), which already numbers around 3,500 members offers its members privileged access behind the scenes of the watch industry. This includes previews, visits to manufactures, invitations to private events, access to exclusive products and accessories, private sales of special FWC limited edition watches, and luxury timepieces sold at a serious discount. In March, the FWC offered twenty members a unique experience: a private visit behind the scenes of Baselworld, the world’s biggest watch fair, and an essential event for all watch lovers.

Two groups of ten FWC members – 18 men and two women from France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Dubai – spent an entire day at Baselworld, on Sunday 24 or Monday 25 March, in the company of FWC Managing Director Julien Haenny. Thanks to the FWC’s excellent contacts with the Baselworld management and the major watch brands, the doors to Baselworld were opened to the twenty FWC acolytes, who were granted access to areas normally off-limits to visitors. Several of the FWC’s major watch brand partners gave the FWC visitors a very special welcome, and treated them to an exclusive introduction to their latest releases, often in the company of the CEO and sales managers. Zenith, Hublot, TAG Heuer, Bulgari, Frédérique Constant, Ateliers de Monaco and several independent creators were on the programme of these very personal visits where, rather than being a race against the clock, all discussions, explanations and discoveries were dictated solely by a love of fine watchmaking. So, how did the privileged FWC visitors, who have often enjoyed more comprehensive presentations than those generally reserved for pressed-for-time media representatives, find the experience? Overall, they said they were very pleasantly surprised and impressed by the quality of the visits, the choice of brands, the time and attention they were given, and the seniority of their interlocutors. “The Baselworld visit was amazing, excellent, comprehensive, and clearly represented one of the advantages of being a member of the FWC,” noted Krish Raman in an email of thanks he sent Julien Haenny a few days later.

Hublot had a particularly special surprise in store for visitors. It was a mouthwatering vision sure to captivate any seasoned watch collector, and certain to light a fire under fledgling collectors. Three of the world’s most important Hublot watch collectors unveiled to the incredulous and fascinated FWC guests around twenty of the rarest Hublot timepieces. They included one unique jewellery piece that everyone present will surely remember for many years to come.

The twenty FWC members who enjoyed this Baselworld experience represented a range of ages, and included experienced collectors, as well as some just beginning to discover the world of watchmaking. Most of them had never been to Baselworld. Among them was a young man who had travelled from Marseille the previous evening, to be sure he would be in Basel at 10 o’clock sharp on the appointed day. At the booth of Zenith, one of the FWC’s partners, he saw sketches for a special timepiece developed for the FWC, which will become a limited series reserved exclusively for FWC members. He preordered one on the spot.

Immersion in the universe of Baselworld would not be complete without a typically Bâloise gastronomic experience. For lunch, the FWC groups repaired to the Krafft brasserie on the banks of the Rhine which, in addition to its superlative board of fare, offers stunning views over Basel’s old town, to chat and share their enthusiasm.

The success of this first official Fine Watch Club event demonstrates that it meets a genuine need among watch lovers as well as watch brands, who were delighted at this opportunity to meet members of the public with a love for fine watchmaking. Forthcoming exclusive events for FWC members include a visit to the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture on 8 May (full) and a TAG Heuer visit on 12 June. June will also see the inauguration of the Fine Watch Club Gallery in Geneva.